Indian team draws 0-0 with south africa
Johannesburg: Brilliant goalkeeping by Savita saw India hold hosts South Africa 0-0 in their first match of the Women's Hockey World league Semi Final here. India made a strong start with a structured game, a better ball possession in the first 15 minutes. There were also some crucial circle penetrations made in the first quarter. South Africa made eight unsuccessful attempts on goal with 34 circle penetrations while India had 15 circle penetrations and three shots on goal. Though South Africa won their only PC of the game in the dying minutes, Tarryn Glasby was kept from converting the goal. India did well to hold hosts to a 0-0 draw and share the points.
India under-23 team beats singapore
New Delhi: A dominant India U-23 beat Singapore U-23 by a solitary goal in the first of the two International Friendlies played at the Chao Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore on Sunday. The tireless Germanpreet Singh, an AIFF Youth Development made product curled in the winner from inside the box in the 80th minute. The second International Friendly is slated to be played on July 12. The goal had a stamp of class written all over it. Germanpreet, who with Anirudh Thapa kept the Indian midfield mobile being perfectly aided with the flanks operating at quite a high pace, latched on a back-pass from Nanda Kumar and unleashed a left-footer digging it into the left top-corner. For National Coach Stephen Constantine this was a straight 9th victory in an International match, the previous eight having come with the Senior National Team, including the un-official match against Bhutan. Keen to use the match as a preparation for the forthcoming AFC U-23 Qualifiers in Doha later this month, Constantine, flexible as always, made 5 substitutions, as a large section of Indians enjoyed from the stands.
England, Mexico give thumbs up to Salt lake
Kolkata: The coaches of England, Mexico and Chile were mighty impressed with the facilities at the Salt lake Stadium, which is all set to host their Group F matches of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Representatives of the Group F teams, including Iraq, today inspected the ground, hotel and training facilities, during their first visit to the city ahead of the October 6- 28 tournament. Elated to get their matches in Kolkata, England head coach Steve Cooper said they are looking forward to check-in earlier than the FIFA schedule in October first week. "First impression is very good. It's fantastic, we are absolutely delighted to get our draw here in Kolkata. We have no complaints. There's such a good enthusiasm for football here," Cooper said. "We have some provisional plans to come here a little bit earlier than the FIFA schedule. It's a life experience as well -- to come to India and experience the culture, everything that comes along with it is a very important experience for the boys."
Vishnu, Mandody make clean sweep
Coimbatore: Chennai's Vishnu Prasad and Kolhapur's Chittesh Mandody did the star turn in the opening round of the 20th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship, completing a clean sweep in their primary races here at the Kari Motor Speedway on an action-packed Sunday. Vishnu had his task cut out in the morning, in front of a packed crowd including 500 school children, with the reverse grid coming into play in the Euro JK 17. He began at P6, that too behind the two drivers who were on his tail all through Saturday: Nayan Chatterjee (P5) and Anindith Reddy (P4). That, however, didn't deter him as he waited for his opportunity to storm past a determined Vikash Anand who started on pole. He was unstoppable, thereafter, showing amazing pace, calm and control under pressure. It was expectedly easier for him in the fourth and last Euro JK race of the day, as he had the advantage of starting in front.